Distribution of forces
A BBC News article recently talked about how long it would take the British armed forces to gear up for another war, all doom and gloom that we're out of bullets and Mars bars. What caught me was the distribution of forces:
| Armed forces total | 206,930 |
| Iraq | 45,000 |
| Germany | 25,000 |
| Northern Ireland | 13,500 |
| Cyprus | 3,230 |
| Bosnia and Croatia | 1,249 |
| Macedonia and Kosovo | 789 |
| Other UN mission | 442 |
| Gibraltar | 420 |
| Afghanistan | 349 |
| Italy | 7 |
The numbers don't add up, and there's probably a whole bundle of people out on ships and in military bases around the world, but what I want to know is this: Who are the seven guys in Italy and what are they doing there? The BBC saw fit to mention them for some reason. Maybe it's an army chef training school, or they're taking lessons from the Mafia, or they're on holiday. Who knows?
It's odd to think we have more forces in Gibraltar, a country we retain because it irritates the Spanish, than in Afghanistan. Gibraltar's not at war with anyone, and it's quite a small country. I'd be interested to see the same breakdown for American troops. Maybe they have seven guys in Italy too.